Search

Search

Search by model name only, and spelling counts. Protip: Type slowly and wait for the auto-complete.

If you’ve already used other filters, this search bar will not override them.

Important Note

Retired gear and unfilterable gear (missing key specs like price/weight) will not appear with this search.

Buying Options

Buying Options

It can be frustrating to find a piece of gear that you like, and then have no buying options. This filter aims to ease that problem. In the future we plan to add non-US retailers to this list and possibly call out each retailer directly.

We feel a little weird calling out Amazon separately as we're not huge fans of this mega-corp. We do this because we're partners with Amazon in multiple countries, so if somebody from the US, Canada, or UK clicks an Amazon link, it'll go to their country-specific Amazon page (when possible). At the moment, this is the only way to find non-US buying options on the site.

Online US retailer (82)

Amazon (63)

Weight (grams)

Weight

In grams, the weight, as stated by the manufacturer/brand.

Since the most common ice axe length is 50cm that is the length we use for our weight filter.

When available, we list the weight for each length on each individual ice axe page.

Price ($USD)

Price ($USD)

The full retail price in US dollars as stated by the brand/manufacturer/US distributer.

With non-US products, we have statically converted the price to US dollars.

This static conversion also means it's possible that there will be some misleading figures at times. The original price and currency will be noted on the individual product pages.

Best Use

Best Use

Ultralight Mountaineering

The lightest axes available, used most for ski mountaineering, adventure racing, and other "go light" ascents. 350 grams is usually the max weight. The decreased weight means they are axes are built for snow missions, not ice.

Mountaineering

This is the most common type of snow mountaineering axe. These axes are above 350 grams and are a great balance of weight and durability. There may be a grip and they will always have an adze head (and no matching hammer pair). These axes are great for snow and can handle chopping steps in ice, or other small ice scenarios.

Technical Mountaineering

These axes are for tougher conditions when the majority of climbing is on snow, but the axe needs to be able to handle a short ice wall. They generally have a bent shaft and T-rated (more technical) pick. Often these beefier axes will have a rubberized grip and they may have a matching adze and hammer version. They're basically the offspring of an ice axe and ice tool.

Ultralight Mountaineering (17)

Mountaineering (29)

Technical Mountaineering (46)

Length Range

Length Range

Measured in centimeters, the best length is based on your height and ape index (arm length). Holding the axe in your hand, the spike (sharp end) of the axe should arrive around your shin. At the max size, it should go to your ankle.

Two people of the same height could need a different sized axe, based on arm length (t-rex vs monkey). If in-between sizes, our bias is towards sizing shorter.

Rule of Thumb

Under 5'6" 50cm

5'6" to 5'8" 50-55cm

5'9" to 6'0" 50-60cm

6'1" to 6'4" 55-65cm

Over 6'4" 60-70cm

Worth Considering

There are other resources that suggest a longer axe is a plus and that you should measure to below the ankle. We absolutely disagree. A longer axe means you'll be tempted to use it as a trekking pole (which will put you off balance), or you'll have to give your arm a huge workout just to lift it in and out of the snow. Ice axes are meant to be used on the uphill side, which is higher than your ankle.

40-49 (22)

50-59 (72)

60-69 (49)

70-79 (31)

80+ (5)

Pick Material

Pick Material

Aluminum Picks

When weight is more important than durability and heavy-use functionality.

Steel Picks

When you want your pick to work well in icy conditions and be more durable in general.

Aluminum (8)

Steel (72)

Hybrid (0)

Titanium (1)

Head Type

Head Type

This refers to the back of the ice axe head (opposite the pick).

For ice axes, adze's are (by far) the most common. An adze will allow you to break ice by chopping or shoveling in a specific area, and they also provide more room to hold on to the head than a hammer does. This grip helps for arresting too.

Hammers are usually only used as a pair with an adze on the other axe (hammer's are much more common in ice tools than ice axes). A hammer uses a more broad force to break ice bulges.

Adze (72)

Hammer (18)

Awards Won

Awards Won

If you'd like to narrow down your search by what others consider to be, "The Best Gear" this is your filter. We’re including all the media awards from the magazines like Climbing, Rock and Ice, and Alpinist, along with online resources like Gear Junkie, Outdoor Gear Labs, and more.

We scour the internet for new awards quarterly. If you know of some reputable awards that we’re missing, send us a note so we can check them out.

Alpinist Mountain Standard (3)

American Alpine Institute Guides Choice (2)

Backpacker Editors' Choice (0)

Backpacker Editors' Choice Gold (1)

Climberism Dirtbag (0)

Climbing Editors Choice (0)

Climbing Editors Choice Classic (0)

Desnivel Gold (1)

Desnivel Silver (0)

Gear Institute Best in Class (0)

Gear Institute Best in New Gear (0)

Gear Junkie Best in Show - Summer (0)

Gear Junkie Best in Show - Winter (0)

IPSO Award (0)

Outdoor Gear Lab - Editors Choice (1)

Outdoor Gear Lab - Top Pick (5)

Outdoor Industry Association UK (0)

OutDoor Industry Award (0)

OutDoor Industry Gold (0)

Outdoor Magazin (0)

Outside Online Gear of the Year (0)

Rock and Ice Best in Gear (0)

Brand

Brand

The list of manufacturers and brands that we have all the technical specs for.

If a brand is missing from this list (like Austri Alpin, Climb X, Climbing Technology, Faders, Ice Rock, Rock Empire and Singing Rock), scroll to the bottom of this page to see all the unfilterable gear we track, and ideally it'll be there.

If you don't see the brand you're looking for in the unfilterable products area, definitely send us a note so we can look into it further.

Unfiltered products

We do our very best to find and display every technical spec for every piece of climbing gear in the world. But sometimes we just can’t dig up a spec or two (usually it's the official price and weight). Sadly, this means not every product is available for filtering and sorting :(

If we allowed products that are missing key specs to display in the results above, these incomplete products would need to appear no matter what filters you chose. This would make the filtered results cluttered and misleading. So instead of leaving out these incomplete products entirely, we're listing them below: